This is what Tesla's new Autopilot UI looks like

Revised driving aid leaked

Picked up by Electrek, the images show the UI Elon Musk's fleet of futuristic cars will be sporting once the over-the-air upgrade rolls out later this week. The eighth version of the software, Autopilot 8.0 will lean more heavily on the car's radar systems in order to detect upcoming obstacles.

The dash UI not only shows distance between cars ahead, but also their position in relation to the driver's own vehicle trajectory.

Other smaller changes are littered around the UI overhaul, with the maximum speed limit more prominently displayed, and a slight tweak to the Autosteer icon to make it clearer when this function is in use.

Electrifying

The update is expected to start hitting Tesla car dashboards on Wednesday 21 September. It's been a high priority for the company following a fatal accident involving a Tesla in Autopilot mode that occurred in Florida earlier this year.

The increased focus on radar functionality will take the strain off the car's camera systems, and should be more accurate in low-visibility conditions, knowing to avoid objects in the car's path even if it can't quite make out exactly what they are.

In a blog post on the forthcoming update, Tesla boss Elon Musk stressed this point, stating that "the car should almost always hit the brakes correctly even if a UFO were to land on the freeway in zero visibility conditions."